Bowling is an art that can be mastered only by practice and hard work. The ability to bowl a ball and get a batsman’s wicket is not as easy as it sounds. Nowadays, cricket is more biased towards the batter as they can entertain people with their fours and sixes, but, the art of bowling will be never be forgotten. Becoming a world-clasworld-class bowler takes a lot of grit and determination, as bowling involves many difficulties and is highly injury prone. The one who is ready for the long journey and does not thrive on short-term success is the one who turns out to be a skillful and fearful bowler.
1. Malcolm Marshall
Malcolm Marshall is the man who could wipe out any batting unit with his fearsome pace. This 5-foot-tall bowler from the Caribbean had taken 235 wickets in the 1980s at an alarming average of 18.47. He is regarded as the greatest fast bowler in the world ever seen in Test cricket. Besides being a fearsome bowler, Marshall also played some crucial knocks with the bat down the order.
2. Joel Garner
This tall and slim fast bowler, who is 6 feet and 9 inches,toe-crushing, was known for bouncers and toe crushing yorkers at a pace of 75 to 80 miles per hour. In the late 1970s and early 1980sbatters, he was the best West Indies bowler in both Test and ODI. Garner had taken 259 wickets at an average of just over 20.
3. Curtly Ambrose
This name gave many batters a nightmare in the 1980s and 1990sthe batsman expected. Curtly Ambrose was 6 feet and 7 inches tall, which enabled him to bounce the ball more than the batsman expected. He had not conceded a single six in his entire cricketing career. By the end of his career, Ambrose had picked up 405 wickets at an average of 20.99.
4. Courtney Walsh
Walsh will forever be remembered for his spell of 5 wickets for one run against Sri Lanka in 1986. He had picked up 519 wickets in Test matches and 227 in ODI’s at an average of 24.44 and 30.47, respectively. Courtney Walsh was the first bowler to reach 500 wickets in Test cricket.
5. Shoaib Akhtar
Akhtar is regarded as the fastest bowler that world cricket has ever seen. He bowled the quickest delivery in international cricket at a pace of 161.3 km/hr. He was the first bowler to bowl at 100 miles per hour, and a significant part is that he did it twice in his career. He was nicknamed“Rawalpindi Express” for his express pace and about his hometown.
6. Lasith Malinga
The man with the weirdest bowling actions but, the most effective one is Lasith Malinga. He was well-known for his express pace, toe-crushing yorkers, and slower balls. He holds the record for taking two hat-tricks in World Cup tournaments. Currently, Malinga is the leading wicket-taker in IPL with 170 wickets.
7. Dale Steyn
He was one of the best new ball bowlers in the world, able to swing the ball both ways. His accuracy, pace, batters, and swing helped him conquer many great opening batsmen like Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag. Dale Steyn picked up 699 wickets in international cricket at an average of 22.41. He had 26 five-wicketbatter hauls in his Test career.
8. Shane Warne
The one spinner that no batsman wanted to face was Shane Warne. He had all leg spin variations and troubled batsmen all around the world. His unique ability was accuracy and using the suitable variation at the right time. Few of his deliveries were considered ‘Deliveries of the Century’ because even the best of batsmen could not cope with this leggie. Warne picked up 1001 wickets in his entire cricketing career.
9. Glenn McGrath
If anyone could bowl a fast medium pace and trouble the greatest, lasting batters, it was Glenn McGrath. He was the classic example for test match bowling, as he bowled just around off and middle stump and did that consistently. His consistency in line and length helped him achieve greater heights in world cricket. He picked up 944 wickets in his cricketing career, lasting 14 long years.
10. Wasim Akram
Wasim Akram was a left-handed pace wizard from Pakistan and was integral to half-centuries Pakistan’s success in the 1992 ICC World Cup. He could provide in-swing, out-swing, and reverse swing. He is regarded as the “King of Reverse Swing.” He picked up 916 wickets in his international career. Wasim Akram was also quite handy with the bat, having scored three centuries and seven half centuries in Test cricket.
